JUSTICE Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday ordered newly appointed head of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) retired General Ricardo Rainier Cruz III to work towards a drug-free national penitentiary.
“My marching order for him is to continue the efforts toward making the BuCor drug free, the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) and even the other penal farms,” de Lima said.
Aside from NBP, BuCor oversees six other operating units–the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Sabisyan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City, Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyon, Leyte and Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Panabo, Davao.
De Lima said as head of the BuCor, Cruz is up to a “herculean task.”
But she said she is confident that Cruz can do his new mandate.
“I’m sure that his training or his background in public service in general and in the military service in particular would really help a lot in terms of bearing and discharging the mandate of the office,” the Secretary said.
Cruz took oath before de Lima at the Department of Justice (DOJ). BuCor is one of the DOJ’s attached agencies.
The newly appointed director said one of his initial plans is the implementation of BuCor’s Modernization Law, which will “professionalize” the Bureau’s employees.
He said he would focus on implementing the BuCor Modernization Law particularly the augmentation and upgrading of salaries of custodial officers and BuCor personnel.
Cruz added that he would remove the special treatment among the inmates of Bilibid.
“I have to remove ‘yung pagpasok ng luxury items and importante rin ‘yung welfare ng mga guards doon. Siguro we have to give them continuous training on how to improve their capability and skills sa pag-guard ng mga prisons. May iba pa ring gagawin pagdating ko doon,” he said.
Cruz served as the commander of Armed Forces of the Philippines Eastern Mindanao from 2013 to 2014. AC